Cooking/Recipe Thread.

[algonquin]

I should do that with tomato paste.

 

[Anemone]

I'm another that gets home from work and often doesn't feel like cooking. I tend to batch cook things on the weekend - usually I will make 2 or 3 things. Sometimes I will take some of it and toss in the freezer for use later. I eat healthier that way, rather than grabbing the easiest thing and just having toast or cereal or whatever snack food I can scrounge up.
Sometimes I will make a single use item - like a chicken curry. Other times, I will cook something with multi-uses, like grilled/stir-fired chicken or taco meat, and then have the items to make different things with it. For example, this past weekend I did taco meat - which I loaded up with extra veggies - black beans, corn, canned tomatoes, diced peppers & mushrooms. Then I have on hand: tortilla shells & sour cream for traditional tacos; lettuce, cucumber, celery - quick & easy taco salad; potatoes - 10 minutes to bake in the microwave, add the taco meat, some sour cream & grated cheese and I have a quick & easy loaded baked potato. One base, but three separate meals I can rotate around so I don't get bored.
I also try to keep healthy quick stuff on hand - I try to pretty much always have carrots, celery, red pepper and or grape/cherry tomatoes, crackers & hummus on hand - so if I really don't feel like cooking, I have quick & easy but good for me on hand.
Someone upthread mentioned their rice cooker - I have one that goes in the microwave: https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-Micr...490749878&sr=8-1&keywords=sistema+rice+cooker
I love it! I did have to try a couple times to get the type of rice & my own microwave figured out, but once I did, perfect rice every time. I've steamed a variety of vegetables in it many times as well.

 

[oleada]

We used our cheapo rice cooker so much that we invested in a nice Japanese one (Zojirushi brand). It's so good; we used it all the time. The programming function is great. We also use it to make oatmeal for beakfast.

 

[Parsley Sage]

Does anyone here have experience with the "Instant Pot"; or a similar, full-featured alternative?
I'm looking for something with a 4 qt. capacity.

I bought one from Amazon on Black Friday last year.

I'm still learning things about it but I use it regularly for yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and steaming vegetables. I've also done a roast and pork chops in it.

 

[Anemone]

I like fish/seafood. And I almost never cook it, and when I do, it is almost always salmon or ocean perch baked with lemon and dill. I need to get out of this rut and expand my repertoire a little bit. One of our food channels up here has a show called Fish the Dish, but so often the chef seems to cook things that I've either never heard of or certainly don't see at my local grocery store - like black cod or macadamia crusted swordfish. Which may be absolutely delicious, but pointless if I can't get the ingredients.
So what kinds of fish do you all find easy to get that you like and how do you cook it?

 

[algonquin]

Does anyone have big dinner plans for the upcoming holidays? I have made this a couple of times for Easter dinner.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/creamy_two_layer_citrus_tart.php

This is a nice side dish.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/baby-vegetable-medley

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

I usually make ham, scalloped potatoes and asparagus or brussels sprouts.

I don't usually make dessert, but if my son comes home I will make some sort of lemon rosemary cake. He loves citrus desserts.

Our Easter tradition is Scotch eggs. We eat a pretty filling breakfast - they are so good! and have an early dinner.

This cake looks so pretty... I think a little rosemary would work well.
https://foodblogandthedog.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/lemon-polenta-olive-oil-cake/

I'd like to go in the direction of a coarse cake instead of a regular airy cake.

 

[Anemone]

My brother & his wife are hosting Easter dinner this year, and I've no idea what my SIL is planning for the menu.
I do know I have been detailed to bring pies for dessert. I am for sure doing a lemon meringue pie and a chocolate chip pie, plus one more. Haven't quite decided on the 3rd one yet.

 

[algonquin]

Chocolate chip pie?

 

[gk_891]

Has anyone ever tried oil down?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAkOXu66yqM

I followed the above recipe fairly closely although I didn't use golden ray and instead of adding in those herbs, I just used some green seasoning that I already had pre-made which more or less amounts to the same thing I think.

 

[clairecloutier]

Does anyone have big dinner plans for the upcoming holidays? I have made this a couple of times for Easter dinner.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/creamy_two_layer_citrus_tart.php

That sounds good! My Easter menu is usually ham, asparagus or other green veg (sometimes frozen peas if it's just us ), and then I like to make a version of Irish "champ"--which is basically mashed potatoes w/scallions mixed in, and golden-brown sauteed onions on top. It sounds a bit weird, but it's good.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

The potatoes sound amazing!

 

[Jenny]

If you like that potato dish, you might like Ireland's beloved colcannon, in which shredded cabbage is incorporated into mashed potatoes. We make a fancier version from Jeff Crump's Earth to Table with shredded brussels sprouts and bacon sauteed in wine before adding boiled potatoes, mashing only slightly with milk and butter, and flavouring with thyme and chives. It's great for breakfast, a huge hit for brunch, and would be lovely with an Easter ham I think.

 

[Anemone]

Chocolate chip pie?

Yep. It is delicious! Very rich though - one 9" pie would probably easily serve 10-12 people.
http://www.afamilyfeast.com/toll-house-chocolate-chip-pie/

 

[algonquin]

Yep. It is delicious! Very rich though - one 9" pie would probably easily serve 10-12 people.
http://www.afamilyfeast.com/toll-house-chocolate-chip-pie/

Oh my. That would be great for my church's dessert auction. Thank you for the recipe.

 

[Anemone]

I've made it with both milk chocolate chocolate chips, and another time with dark chocolate chocolate chips.
Both were delicious & well-received.

 

[Chemistry66]

I just made what I think are my new favorite pancakes. I wanted chocolate chip pancakes, but had no chocolate chips. I did have half a "Coffee and cream" chocolate bar, so I chopped it up and sprinkled it on top of the batter after I poured it onto the griddle.

Oh, and I put cookie butter in the pancake batter itself.

 

[Spun Silver]

That sounds like my kind of chocolate bar. What is cookie butter?

 

[Spun Silver]

Does anyone have big dinner plans for the upcoming holidays? I have made this a couple of times for Easter dinner.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/creamy_two_layer_citrus_tart.php

This is a nice side dish.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/baby-vegetable-medley

I hate to repeat myself but my husband loves tried and true. (And believe me, after some of my experiments I understand why. Still....) This year we are doing:

Appetizers: Shrimp and a vegetarian version of miang kum (spicy Thai basil wrap -- fantabulous dish)

Main course:
Some chicken breast dish with ham and cheese that hubby wants to make
Phyllo-wrapped asparagus spears (another mouthwatering dish)
Popovers (people would come for them alone!)
And some sort of substantial salad... I think a lentil salad was posted above? Kale/quinoa maybe. Havent decided on this one yet.

Dessert: wonderful vegan cupcakes from the corner bakery and coconut sherbet

 

[Simone411]

I've had Smuckers Recipe page bookmarked for some time now because they always have a variety of recipes for desserts, salads, soups, dinner, etc. I also have it listed in my Chefs & Recipes category on my site.
I received an e-mail this morning that included some very neat dessert recipes.

One of the recipes that was included in the e-mail looked so delicious that I've decided to make it for my stepmom on Mothers Day.

Easy Strawberry Cassata Cake

 

[skatesindreams]

I'm sure she will love that!

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

That cake sounds lovely! I keep seeing a commercial for Kohls and they keep showing this ad that has a cast iron french toast dish so I finally googled it - my daughter is going to make it when she has friends over.

In case you seer the commercial and want the recipe, here it is:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/raspberry-challah-skillet-french-toast-casserole

I don't even shop there!

I'm still eating lighter so it isn't something we can have in the house.

Anyway this is my recipe for later this week to go with chicken:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes...peBox&pgType=recipebox-page&region=all&rank=1

Doesn't it look like it will taste like spring?

 

[Simone411]

Oh my gosh! The cast iron french toast looks delicious!! I'll have to make that, too! Thanks for sharing @TheGirlCanSkate! I'll also have to try the Tiger vegetable salad!

 

[Chemistry66]

So I got free bread (from my favorite vendor) and free dozen eggs (from a new vendor) at the Farmer's Market today.

That means French Toast (I use Alton Brown's recipe on my griddle) topped with strawberries and cream cheese, and poached eggs on toast (mmm a good poached egg).

 

[algonquin]

@Chemistry66 Do you half and half in the recipe or just milk?

 

[Chemistry66]

@Chemistry66 Do you half and half in the recipe or just milk?

Milk, usually, but only because I don't usually have half-and-half or heavy cream.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

I didn't think I liked quinoa out it turns out I just didn't like how I made it!

I found a recipe and gave it another shot. I boiled it, drained and rinsed it and drained it again. While it was boiling, I went through the fridge and got every veg that was not looking so great and washed and small diced. Then I stir fried them adding crushed chilis, cumin, garlic, and chili powder. it was a little on the spicy side. Then I added the grain and cooked until it was hot. I added a bunch of cilantro at the end. It was a nice change to have a grain with dinner and I'm so happy to go through the fridge and use up less than perfect veg. The spice balanced well once the grain was added.

 

[mackiecat]

I hate to repeat myself but my husband loves tried and true. (And believe me, after some of my experiments I understand why. Still....) This year we are doing:

Appetizers: Shrimp and a vegetarian version of miang kum (spicy Thai basil wrap -- fantabulous dish)

Main course:
Some chicken breast dish with ham and cheese that hubby wants to make
Phyllo-wrapped asparagus spears (another mouthwatering dish)
Popovers (people would come for them alone!)
And some sort of substantial salad... I think a lentil salad was posted above? Kale/quinoa maybe. Havent decided on this one yet.

Dessert: wonderful vegan cupcakes from the corner bakery and coconut sherbet

What is the recipe for the phyllo wrapped asparagus

 

[Spun Silver]

What is the recipe for the phyllo wrapped asparagus

That one is easy, just takes a bit of time. Ingredients are stalks of asparagus with ends cut/broken off, melted butter, grated Parmesan and a roll of phyllo sheets cut in half (cut the whole roll). No salt or pepper. Take a sheet, brush it with butter, throw Parmesan over it (I use app 1T per sheet), add the asparagus, and roll up the whole thing. When you have all your rolls, throw some more Parmesan on top. Bake at 375 until golden brown (15-20 mins). The recipe said to cover the phyllo roll with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out while you are working (assembly is a bit slow, it takes me 20-30 mins.) but that can also make the sheets gluey and stuck together, so play that by ear. It may depend on the weather.

If anything is unclear let me know. It was a big success as always. I made it again a couple nights later to use up the second half of the phyllo roll... and there is another whole roll left as they come in boxes of two.

 

[sk8pics]

I was very domestic this weekend. Made garlic smashed potatoes with some leftover golden potatoes I had, and while they are not pretty they are delicious! You just boil small potatoes until tender, then put them on a baking sheet, gently "smash" them so they're smashed but intact, then sprinkle some olive oil and garlic on top, then bake around 15' at 350 F.

Today I am cooking one of those Purdue roaster chickens so I'll have lots of cooked chicken for use on salads and in casseroles. And since it's kind of cold I also made red lentil soup. I'll be set for awhile. Then I have to eat out of my freezer for awhile, so I can fit new things in it!